Residents rate Orland Park in community survey

Village government, safety praised while traffic is criticized

Results of a community survey were presented during an Orland Park Village Board meeting Monday. (Lauren Zumbach, Chicago Tribune)

Orland Park residents may like to gripe about La Grange Road traffic, but they have few other complaints about their hometown, according to the results of a community survey conducted this year.

About 90 percent of respondents rated the overall quality of life in Orland Park favorably, and public safety, parks and recreation, and education earned similarly high marks.

Trustees discussed the results at the Village Board meeting Monday night and the findings were posted on the village website Tuesday.

This is the second time Orland Park sought residents' feedback through a survey conducted by the National Research Center. While most of the results changed little over the last two years, the share of residents saying they planned to stay in Orland Park has increased and 94 percent said they would recommend living in the village, up 11 percentage points since 2012. The percent approving of the village's "overall direction" made a similar leap, up from 59 percent to 71 percent.

"Seeing those ratings come up is definitely impressive," said Damema Mann, senior project manager of the National Research Center.

Residents' biggest priorities were safety and the economy, she said. About 90 percent of residents reported feeling safe in the village, with a similar percentage rating the quality of police, ambulance and fire services favorably.

Views on Orland Park's economy were more mixed. It ranked fifth of nearly 230 communities the National Research Center works with in having good opportunities to shop, and 84 percent praised its overall economic health.

However, only about half rated the cost of living and employment opportunities in the village positively. Fewer than 30 percent were optimistic that the economy would have a positive effect on their income, though Mann said that was similar to other communities they survey.

A majority of residents are still unhappy with traffic flow, and just over half say it's easy to travel by car. But fewer than half praised public transit options, while nearly 70 percent did two years ago.

When asked about their priorities, residents focused on basic services. Almost all respondents said it was essential or very important to invest in municipal infrastructure, and four out of five stressed community policing and investing in facilities and equipment for police and public works.

Mayor Dan McLaughlin said he was surprised by the latter priority, but Village Manager Paul Grimes noted that since the survey was conducted during one of the snowiest winters in recent memory, residents might have been paying more attention than usual to the Public Works Department, which plows village roads.

Despite their emphasis on the basics, residents didn't seem to be complaining. About 87 percent said village services were excellent or good, compared with 36 percent for federal government services.

McLaughlin said he was pleased with the results but noted there were few surprises.

"It's not a stretch to imagine that most people are interested in safety and basic services," he said.

Surveys were mailed to 3,000 randomly selected homes, with 31 percent completing them. Residents who weren't chosen to be part of the study could answer the same questions in an online form, though the results of the online survey will be presented separately because they might not be representative, Grimes said.